St John's University St John's Scholar Theses and Dissertations 2021 EXPLORING FIRST YEAR STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN READING ACADEMIC TEXTS IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM Adele J Doyle Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.stjohns.edu/theses_dissertations Part of the Higher Education Commons EXPLORING FIRST YEAR STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN READING ACADEMIC TEXTS IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY to the faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SPECIALTIES of THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION at ST JOHN’S UNIVERSITY New York by Adele J Doyle Date Submitted: November 15, 2020 Date Approved: January 29, 2021 Adele J Doyle Kristin Anderson © Copyright by Adele J Doyle 2021 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT EXPLORING FIRST YEAR STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN READING ACADEMIC TEXTS IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM Adele J Doyle This study explores how the construct of interest may influence first-year community college students’ willingness to engage with academic text assignments Research on interest theory as presented by Renninger (2009) suggests that students, even those with low self-efficacy or regulation, are more likely to make gains in engagement and/or academic progress, dependent upon how interested those students are in the texts assigned by their teacher Students from two 2020 spring semester first-year composition courses at a Northeast metropolitan community college were provided with potential academic reading assignments on diverse topics Students were asked to select one assignment, read it, and report back on their interest level Through surveys, discussion posts, and class discussions, the concept of student interest in these texts was examined Using constant comparative coding as asserted by Glaser (1965) and facilitated by NVivo 12 Software, underlying factors related to student interest in academic text assignments were explored Through participant perspective, twelve observable factors relevant to student interest in academic text assignments were identified, culminating in the articulation of a newly proposed workflow model on Student Interest to Read Academic Texts This model contributes to the field a visual understanding of the impact of student interest in academic text assignments specific to a young urban adult population As such, it serves as a valuable first step to consider innovation in educational instruction, to better harness student interest in academic texts for greater engagement and learning ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all who have made this educational journey and the completion of this dissertation possible, without whose unwavering support I could not have reached within to accomplish this goal First and foremost, my tremendous gratitude toward and admiration for my mentor, Dr Kristin Anderson; your invaluable insight, empathy, and support made this effort possible Thank you for being always present in the moment, always positive, and for providing advice and the right amount of prodding that made all the difference Thank you to the yin and yang of my dissertation committee, Dr Lisa Bajor, a kindred qualitative spirit, and Dr Olivia Stewart, who helped me embrace the devil in the details; thank you both for taking me beyond my comfort zone Your voices will always be (positively) in my head Thank you to Dr Evan Ortlieb, for fostering an engaging PhD program in Literacy and community at St John’s University, and for cultivating a faculty rich in knowledge and experience, and to my teachers, for sharing your invaluable knowledge and experience This journey has been worth the productive struggle, and I am richer for that experience To Dr John Beach, posthumously, thank you for opening the door, as my first teacher at St John’s, and for inviting me to walk through I will always remember your humor and your encouragement To my incredibly amazing colleagues in Cohort 2017 I could not have asked for a better or more supportive learning community I have learned so much from you and am grateful for having your positive spirit, eye-opening experience, and good will these past three and a half years ii To my students, thank you! You were the most amazing collaborators in this endeavor You and all your peers who I have taught over the years have shown me, through your honesty, trust, and insight, that we as teachers have so much we can learn from our students Finally, to the ones who are my reason for everything meaningful in my life - to my husband for inspiring me to take the first step even with the chaos of our lives, and to our children, Thomas, Will, James, and Angelina, my windows into the amazing lives of young people It is because of you that I have reached this height Remember! Life is an adventure! Be kind and enjoy the journey iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Background Statement of the Problem Significance of this Study Research Purpose: Why Interest Matters Young Adult Identity Formation Research Questions Definition of Key Terminology Limitations 11 Implications of this Research 12 Conclusion 13 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 15 The Problem 15 Research on Young Adults 15 The Devaluation of Affective Traits in Reading Research 16 Motivation to Read Research 18 Motivation, Engagement, or Interest: Blurred Lines 21 The Value of Interest for Young Adults 23 An Overview of Interest Theory 24 Interest Studies 29 Theoretical Background 32 Self-Determination Theory 33 The Value of Action Research 37 Ethical Dilemmas in Action Research 37 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS 40 Research Site 41 Participant Pool 42 iv Research Design 42 Reducing Bias and Coercion 45 Data Collection Process 46 Data Collection Instruments 49 Data Instruments 50 Data Analysis 53 Final Analysis 56 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS 58 Overview 58 Analysis 60 Emergent Themes 62 Refined Axial Coding 70 Explanation of Generated Themes 72 Attention/Focus 72 Choice/Preference 75 Complicated/Complex 78 Comprehension Difficulty as a Subcategory of Complicated/Complex 80 Engagement 82 Enjoyment 87 Judgment 91 Learning 95 Presentation of Text 99 Related/Relevance/Application 101 Teacher/Class Dynamic 104 Value 109 Other Motivation 112 Summary 116 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 120 Overview 120 Summary of Findings 121 Moving Beyond Reading Compliance 126 v Empirical Research Linked to Inquiry Themes 127 Compliance Studies and the Value of Interest 128 Interest and Self Determination Theory Related Young Adults 130 Characteristics and Value of Personal Interest 133 Person-Object Theory 134 Value and Feeling Represented in Interest Theory 135 Young Adult Interest Development 136 Characteristics and Value of Situational Interest 137 Text-based, Task-based, and Knowledge-based Interest 140 Text-based Situational Interest 140 Task-based Situational Interest 145 Knowledge-Based Situational Interest 148 Self-Determination Theory and the Value of Choice 149 Learning versus Completing 152 Competence, Autonomy, and Relatedness 159 Competence 159 Autonomy 161 Relatedness 167 Summary of Supports for Competence, Autonomy, and Relatedness 169 A Theoretical Workflow Model of Student Interest to Read Academic Texts 171 Engagement 171 Accounting for the Value/Feeling Valence 173 Summary 176 Next Steps for Research 177 Appendix A 183 Appendix B 184 Appendix C 187 Appendix D 192 REFERENCES 238 vi .. .EXPLORING FIRST YEAR STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN READING ACADEMIC TEXTS IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of... READING ACADEMIC TEXTS IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM Adele J Doyle This study explores how the construct of interest may influence first- year community college students’ willingness... of Findings 121 Moving Beyond Reading Compliance 126 v Empirical Research Linked to Inquiry Themes 127 Compliance Studies and the Value of Interest 128 Interest